Back to Official Business…

Greetings to everyone from here in sunny Vlad. Today was a busy day for the dads. Steve, Chris and Irina (one of our incredible coordinators here) met up at 9am today and were off take care of some of our final orders of business here in Vlad. Our first stop was at the Notary office, then on to court to pick up our official court decree. The next stop was at one of the Vital Statistics offices for Steve to sign off on Victoria’s Birth Certificate and Certificate of Adoption (it felt very good to finally see these documents!). After a short stop at another Vital Statistics office for Chris, we were on to the Passport office to request Victoria’s Russian passport. Typically, this process takes weeks to months. However, for international adoptions, the process is expedited (1 day turnaround). We then made two quick stops; one at Vladivostok’s main Vital Statistics office and one at the Ministry of Education (the office that oversees all adoption referrals in Russia). The last stop for the day was our final trip to the toy and food store here in Vlad. All-in-all, it was a 4.5 hour outing (for the dads this felt like about 2 hours….the moms might agree that it felt more like 8 hours. Hahaha…).

Sharon and Victoria had just finished lunch, so we sat down and listened to some music (more specifically, to a CD with Russian children’s songs that Sharon had picked up earlier in the week). Victoria really enjoyed the songs (most of which appear to be associated with Russian cartoons) and she sang along with a number of them. Have we mentioned that this kid is adorable?

Well, our days are finally in single digits. Including today, we’ll be home in 9 days (so, technically 8 days) and we leave for Moscow in a day and a half. It will be great to move on. However, we are very thankful for our time here at the Vlad Inn…which actually represents our first home as a family. Tomorrow, we three are off to pick up Victoria’s passport, then we head to her US Embassy required doctor’s visit.

It’s Official; We Have a New Member of the Family….

Hello everyone! Today is March 30, 2009, which marks 2 years, 7 months, and 30 days since starting the adoption process. While our court decree is ready, we could not pick it up from the judge today (based on the judge’s meeting schedule). Mildly frustrating, but we are still on schedule for the rest of the week and, hey, what’s one more day after all this time, right? Hahahaha… (please note the mild sarcasm) ;o)

However, our 10 day waiting period is complete and, at long last, we are able to officially introduce the newest member of our family….Victoria Ann Fantozzi.

We’ve come such a long way since the day we first set eyes on our little girl (we have crossed both oceans to see her). But, on September 24, 2008, she walked down a short flight of stairs and straight into our hearts…where she will stay forever. Today is a day filled with excitement and joy…one which starts a new chapter in our lives (as well as our family and friends). You have all traveled this journey with us and we are delighted to have you share this wonderful day with us.

Just as a reminder, here is the first picture that we ever took of Victoria…


Here are some pictures from today. In one, she is playing hide and seek with her blanket while “watching” Scooby Doo…in the other, she is trying on her new hat…
P.S. – Pics/Videos associated with previous posts are up. So, if you are interested, feel free to have a look.

The Weekend is Officially Over….

Hello from chilly Vladivostok. We had a little snow over night. Not too much, just enough to lightly coat the ground. It made for a nice scene when we opened the windows this morning (we look out the window together each morning to look at the birds). We have been very lucky with the weather since we have been here. We are hoping for the same luck when we reach Moscow, so that we are able to take advantage of the sightseeing opportunities.

We went for a nice walk down to the Sea of Japan again today with our friends Chris, Daniela and Sasha. Victoria enjoyed seeing the trains and waving to the people as they went by. We then settled in for lunch, over which Victoria locked into the movie Air Bud II. This was a nice change of pace as far as TV shows are concerned. Understand this…they have multiple stations here that have American shows (in English). However, they are on a long rotation. So, you wind up seeing the same episodes of shows/movies multiple times over the course of a few days. Victoria had been enjoying the 2009 Figure Skating World Championships, which aired over and over again (continuously) throughout the week (I think that we know each fall and could effectively score each routine at this point…hahaha). Funny…today, we heard that someone referred to this portion of the second trip as Groundhog Day (as in the movie). We agree that this hits the nail on the head! Haha…

Well tomorrow should be a big day for us. This is the day that we are scheduled to receive our official court decree. While the official date of adoption coincides with our court date (March 18th), when we receive the decree, our little Vika will officially become Victoria Ann Fantozzi. This also means that we will be able to post pictures on the blog. We will be sure to go back to post pictures appropriate to past blog posts. So, please be sure to go back and have a look after tomorrow!!!

Passing Time and Trying to Stay Healthy….

Happy Saturday everyone! This is the start of our last weekend here in Vlad. We have passed the half way point in our 26 day journey (home-to-home). Today was day fifteen, so we are on the “back-nine”, so to say. There are a number of new adoptive families here with their children. They are all adorable, but there seems to be an outbreak of the sniffles and a little worse. So, mild paranoia has set in about getting sick. Victoria has her doctor’s appointment in 4 days, so we don’t want her to be sick for that. Just as importantly, we’d prefer that none of us be sick for the 9 hour flight to Moscow next week.

Today was a pretty laid back day for us. So, not too much info for us today. Victoria is being a good girl a large majority of the time. She has her devilish moments too, of course. We are working on “please” (pazhalsta) and “thank you” (spasiba). Obviously, it will take some time, but we are definitely making progress.

We were happy to hear that our friends Chris and Daniela received their court decree today finalizing their adoption is adorable Sasha. Another friend of ours, Jennifer, whom we met on our first trip in September, received word that her court date is set for next month. So, there is lots of good news to go around. Truth be told, we could not be happier for both of these delightful families. Our next news should come Monday, when our court decree finalizes. So, we’re getting there!!

Three days till our court decree is finalized….

A continuing story…we are literally loosing track of what day of the week it is. Now that we have confirmed it to be Friday, we are just a few short days away from officially finalizing our adoption of Victoria. April is nearing and we will soon be on our way to Moscow.

Victoria is getting used to our daily schedule and is full of energy. The Vlad Inn is a family/kid friendly location. So, this has been a great place to spend our first days as a family. We’ll have to see how Victoria reacts to next week’s plane ride (8 hours) and the new set up/schedule in Moscow. We are looking forward to seeing a number of Moscow’s historic landmarks (Red Square, St. Basil’s and even the Moscow Zoo). Victoria seems to really enjoy animals (in books and on the National Geographic channel). So, the zoo should be a hit.

We have been trying to see how many English words we can teach Victoria. Since she is fluent in Russian, it is a little more difficult. She has been picking up on things, though. She is learning to count in English (she is already able to count in Russian). We have been working on counting the number of stairs for starters. So far, she has 1, 2 and 3. We’ll see how things go…

We decided to take Victoria for a walk today down toward the Sea. The breeze made it quite cold, so we were going to call off the trip a little short. On the way back, we ran into our friends Chris, Daniela and Sasha. So, we decided to take a trip to the little market located near the hotel (think of a small 7-11). This, of course, turned out to be Victoria’s first ever trip to the store. We were little anxious to see how she would react, but we felt that this would be a good place to start (rather than a full sized store). She handled it like a champ and was very calm.

In the store, there is a nice older woman that we have heard about. Folks call it the “Babushka Test” where the woman checks over the kids to ensure that the new parents have dressed them appropriately. The woman (who is very nice and we have seen in the store a number of times) had a nice little conversation with Victoria and told her that she was “kraseevee” (beautiful). We are proud to say that Victoria passed! Haha… This evening, Victoria interacted very nicely with a newly adopted 18 month old boy (when he dropped his ball, she picked it up and handed it to him on several occasions). Hopefully, this bodes well for her interacting with young cousins/friends.

Here are a few more pictures, this time some shots around the hotel. The first is a shot of the White Rabbit (where we and a number of adoptive parents spend a fair amount of their time). The second is a shot of Victoria’s bath toys, which she lines up very neatly after her bath (it was tough finding any bath toys here, especially girlie ones…but these were better than spaceships…haha). The third is our kitchen. The fourth is a shot of our living room.

Six days to go in Vlad….

We are 4 days away from receiving our court decree and finalizing our adoption of Victoria!!! Our friends, Chris, Daniela and Sasha may be receiving their paperwork tomorrow. So, we are hopeful for that and are very happy to have had a chance to share this experience with them.

Sharon had the chance to head out today (with Irina and Daniela) to go souvenir shopping for Victoria. This also turned allowed her to do some sightseeing (lots of great photos). Unfortunately, we may not get to do a family sightseeing outing here in Vlad (based on the way the days fall and the business that we have to attend to next week). So, we were very happy that Sharon had the chance to get out today and see some things. We should still have time to do a family outing once we get to Moscow.

Sharon did an excellent job picking out items for Victoria. What a great mom she is!!! She picked up some awesome Russian nesting dolls, a Snow Princess, a teddy bear with “Vika” on it, and a CD with Russian children songs. There are 3 nesting dolls. One is distinctly Russian, painted red, black, and gold. One is the Cheburashka, with all the main characters from the cartoon (including the crocodile, the lion, the mean old lady and her dog). The last nesting doll is Winnie the Pooh and contains a number of the main characters (Tigger, Eyore, Rabbit and Piglet). As for the Snow Princess, it is said that she brings gifts to little Russian boys and girls around Christmas.

While Sharon was out, Steve spent the time in the room watching a movie with Victoria. She wanted to watch Nemo again (hard to believe, right?). So, he may have rested his eyes a little during the movie. Hahaha… The rest of the time was spent coloring and playing ball (some of her typical afternoon activities). Victoria absolutely loves the pair of sunglasses that we brought for her. Of course, we find it hysterical that she loves to use them inside and sees no need for them outside. We were looking through some pictures on the computer tonight (from our trek down to the frozen Sea of Japan yesterday) and we pointed out that she had blinked in one picture. She said that the sun was in her eyes. So, we are working on the concept of using the sunglasses outside.

During the first few days, Victoria would eat anything that we put in front of her and would eat every last bite. Now, she is a little more picky about what she eats and how much. She loves her apple juice (yablaka-sok), banana (banan), and yogurt for breakfast (zaftrak). For lunch (aby-et), she giggles with excitement over her ham and cheese sandwich, along with some goldfish. For dinner (oozshin), she adores plain pasta. Since she has never had sauce with her pasta, we will wait until we get home to introduce some sauces. It will be important to see how she likes these before a meal at her Uncle Joe’s house (who, if you don’t know, can put out a real feast).

The three of us are sitting here in front of the computer as we type this. Victoria does not like to let daddy type as she just wants to see pictures/videos of herself. We have gotten around this by setting up a scrolling slideshow of pictures on the side of the screen. Well, it is time for Zubies and then off to bed for Victoria. The last two nights she has gone into bed alone in the room, without us on the adjacent bed (such a big girl).

Here are a few pics from around the city. The first is a view across the Vlad Bay and into the Sea of Japan, the second is the Triumphal Arch, the third is the first church built in Vladivostok, the fourth is an actual WWII sub (including a WWII monument to fallen soldiers), the last is a nice sea level shot across the bay.

A Fun-Filled Day….

Today was an enjoyable day. After lunch, Victoria enjoyed watching a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse video that we brought. Another hit…she enjoyed it tremendously and loved following along with “Miska, Mooska, Mickey Mouse” (you need to know the show to understand). It was very cute. Also, while coloring a turtle this morning, Victoria started to sing a song about turtles (teel-e-baska)...we told you she has a song for everything. She loves the camera, but seems to shy away from showing her playful side on video. This time, we got lucky and we caught her singing the song on video. We will definitely try to post it come next Monday.

While Victoria is familiar with watching videos, regular TV is not something that she would have had a chance to watch. She takes a little interest in TV so far, but not tremendously so. There are some very interesting old Russian cartoons (even the Russian version of Winnie the Pooh). She has learned how to use the remote. There are not that many channels here, so she just scrolls up/down saying “Knee-Eta” (not this) until she settles on something. This evening, she found out how to adjust the volume. It took a few tries to get across the concept of turning it down. Hahaha…

We decided to go for a walk down to the beach with the Chris, Daniela and Sasha. Victoria was all dressed up in her full snow suit. At times, it reminds us of Ralphie’s little brother in the movie “A Christmas Story.” Hahaha…. But, she loves the outfit! When we were here in September, the beach was hopping with barbeques and people swimming. This time, the Sea of Japan is completely frozen over. Earlier in the week, folks were driving out onto the ice to go ice fishing. Today, there was only one lone fisherman.

In addition to loving her bath time, Victoria loves to brush her teeth. She has a cute Snow White (purple with sparkles) toothbrush and goes running to the sink (giggling the whole way) when we say “Zubies” (teeth). She is such a big girl with her “Pasta” (toothpaste). Victoria is even taking a fancy to looking at herself in the mirror, mostly admiring her new outfits, but also while brushing her hair. It is evident that she never really was given a chance take her time and do her hair. So, this is all new to her and it is cute to watch.

Hope everyone enjoys the new look of the blog. We even added a clock, so that you can always know what time it is here for us. They will be observing daylight savings time this weekend, so we will go from 14 hours forward to 15 hours forward compared to EST. Hope that everyone is doing well and we’ll talk to you all soon!!

Lean Days (Sunday/Monday/Tuesday)….

Hello again everyone! It’s been a few days since our last post. The specter of spending 10+ days within the confines of a hotel is starting to settle in. As we mentioned before, we are not are not able to take Victoria away from the hotel until our 10 day waiting period is over. Truly, there are only so many things that you can do in a hotel! We assume that everyone understands the concept of cabin fever, correct? Hahaha…

Sunday (March 22, 2009) was a pretty typical day here in Vlad for us. We are settling into a routine and the days are passing pretty quickly. The weather was not so great (some more snow), so we had to find things to do inside. We sat down to watch a movie and let Victoria pick. She picked and enjoyed Cat Leopold (of course, the theme song is now stuck in our heads). We were looking through a book which showed some fish…one looked like a particularly famous fish, so she said Nemo, instead of Reebka (fish).

On Monday (March 23, 2009), a few things of interest happened. While waiting for lunch, we got a call from Irina that she was on her way to take Victoria’s picture for her Russian passport. It was funny, Victoria kept blinking (which was something that has not been a problem for other pictures). So, it took a number of attempts. Sharon got to head out to the store for a few more supplies. She found a nice nesting doll for Victoria to play with and she has enjoyed it very much. We will head to a different store next week to pick up some actual souvenirs for Victoria.

Irina also let us know the plan for next week, the next time where we will be required to perform official business. Since our 10 day waiting period ends on a Saturday, our court decree will be finalized on Monday, March 30th. The next day, Steve and a few of the other dads will head out with Irina to the Department of Vital Statistics and a few other places. This is the day that we will receive Victoria’s Russian passport, official adoption decree and her birth certificate. The following day (Wednesday, April 1st), we three will head out for a doctor’s visit. This is required by the US Embassy and will include some x-rays and immunizations which we will have to take with us to Moscow in order to receive Victoria’s US passport.

Tuesday (March 24, 2009), was a good day. During lunch, we met a nice couple from Texas who are here on their first trip. After lunch, instead of a nap, we sat down for a relaxing movie. We decided on Nemo which, surprise, Victoria had never seen before. She absolutely loved it!! After the movie, Chris and Daniela came over the Sasha. The kids had a very nice play-date (also another first for Victoria) and we parents enjoyed a nice chat.

Right now, Victoria is enjoying her bath toys in her pre-bed bath time. So, that about does it for the day. Sorry for the delays in posting. We’ll get some pictures up once next Monday comes and the court decree is finalized.

Family Day #3

Hello from the far east coast of Russia! The weather was a little overcast here today and we got our first bout of snow. It was mostly for show, since there was no accumulation at all. It did make for a nice scene, though. Another great night of sleep for Victoria last night (a full 10 hours). We were able to pick up some fresh bananas at the store yesterday, and Victoria really enjoyed it with her breakfast cereal.

We had a relaxing morning hanging out in the White Rabbit. We brought Victoria’s DVD player and a Cheburashka video with us, in the event that some of the other kids here might be able to enjoy as well. Turns out there were other kids, so Victoria enjoyed watching the video with them.

Each passing day, Victoria’s personality comes out more and more. She is stubborn about naps, but she really is incredibly playful and sweet. With us, she is a real Chatty-Cathy and giggler, but she’s still a bit shy with other folks. She appears to have a song for everything, which is adorable. Before dinner, we pulled out a toy that Victoria could write/draw on and erase. She showed us how neatly she could write (mama, papa, Vika, etc.) and draw. This was actually the first time that we saw her write! During dinner, there was a little girl here that called Steve “dya-dya” (uncle). Victoria apparently thought she said “Papa” and immediately responded “Nyet, munya Papa” (no, my daddy). That’s daddy’s girl! Haha…

After dinner, we sat around the table looking at pictures on the computer. Victoria really loves to see pictures of herself on the “kompooter” (hahaha…). She wants to see them as soon as we have taken them. She also likes to look through all of the pictures that we have. Funny story…Every time we get to pictures of our house, she recognizes our “dome” (home). But, every time we show her “Vika’s spal-knee’a” (Vika’s bedroom), she replies “Nyet” (no). Boy, is she in for a surprise when we get home and she sees the room is actually hers!

Family Day #2

Hello again everyone! Today was another pretty good day as we start to figure things out here. Victoria is an excellent night sleeper and we seem to be very well at communicating (we are understanding a quite a bit more of her Russian). We needed to head to the store (supermarket and kid’s store) today. We were so worn out from court the other day that we forgot a number of things. Since we are in the middle of the 10 day waiting period, we are not yet able to take Victoria off the immediate hotel grounds.

So, after watching a Cheburashka video (Russian video for kids…Victoria was singing the theme song), Steve was off to the store, along with Shad and Daniella. They had a car take them on the 15-20 minute drive. The stores are set up a little different than home, so the team effort was very helpful. During this time, Sharon and Victoria headed up to the White Rabbit for some mommy-daughter play time (puzzles, ball, etc.). Steve’s trip to the store extended past lunch, so Sharon fixed Victoria a ham and cheese sandwich for lunch. Such a lunch must be a novelty, because Victoria was all excited (she even excitedly told daddy all about it when he got back from the store).

Soon enough, it was time for attempt #2 at a nap. Even though her eyes and yawns told us different, Victoria was insistent that she did not need a nap. She repeatedly said “Ya ne khachu spot (I don’t need to sleep)”. She would yawn in the middle of saying a few times, so that was actually pretty funny. After naptime, Victoria was ready for some coloring. Winnie the Pooh is her favorite book, so that is what we did. After coloring, it was back up the White Rabbit, where Victoria showed daddy her fascination with the pool table (how did those balls get from the pockets to the end of the table?).

After dinner, back in our room, Victoria wanted daddy to watch TV with her (instead of cleaning dishes). Understand that she calls us Mama and Papa, so it was so cute when she was saying “Paw-Pa” (drawn out). She wanted to sit on daddy’s lap while she watched TV. Interestingly, Victoria is all about mommy at certain times and all about daddy other times. We are figuring this all out. Haha…

To end the night, it was time for Victoria’s bath. Mommy got to surprise her with the bubble bath and bath toys that daddy picked up at the store earlier in the day. What a hit!

Family Day #1

We three got a pretty good night of sleep. Victoria slept straight through the night until about 6am (they tell us that she typically sleeps until 7). We got ourselves ready for the day and headed out to see who was around. Walking down the hall, we saw Shad with his son Maxim. Shad had picked up an RC car for Maxim to play with, so we poked into the Canada Room (an open conference room here at the hotel) to see if the kids wanted to play together.

Turns out they both enjoyed watching the car run around the room. Victoria even took over the controls and had fun running it back and forth (into a wall or two…hope that is not a sign of her future driving style. Hahaha…). Chris, Daniela and Sasha then stopped in and we all went up to the White Rabbit (a secondary playroom/restaurant here at the hotel). The kids played for a little while and we all decided to stay there for some lunch.

So, we had a great morning. After lunch, it was back to the room where we wanted to relax for a little while and then put Victoria down for a nap (since she was yawning and she normally naps in the afternoon). Victoria was way too excited with her seemingly endless choices. So, nap attempt #1…failed. She insisted that she did not need a nap. So, being the nice (new) parents that we are, we all set up on the couch (lights off) and watched Winnie the Pooh, hoping that this would induce sleep. If we were looking to make ourselves more tired, then we were successful. She, however, locked into the show for over an hour and no sleep. So, we bagged the idea of a nap for the day and decided that we would simply get her off to sleep earlier.

Before dinner, we decided to take Victoria outside for some time on the playground (which she would normally have done twice a day). Unfortunately, the playground is on the windy side of the hotel (toward the ocean). So, it turned out to be far colder than we had expected. 15 minutes getting her ready and out the door….about 4-5 minutes on the playground (which also was pretty icy). Oh well, we tried. Soon enough, it was time for dinner (which we cooked in our new room). After dinner, Victoria got a kick of looking at all of the photos that we have saved on the computer (mostly of her, but also of family). Then, it was time for a bath and on to bed. Victoria went right to sleep. All in all, today was a great and very successful day. It was mostly a play day, so tomorrow is time to start staying on a schedule…

Court Day!

Well, we arrived at court at around 3:15pm on Wednesday. We waited in the hall with Lana and Ludmilla until our court hearing. They used this time to fill us in on some final details related to what we would expect during the hearing. We entered court room 103 a few minutes before 4pm, along with the court recorder and the state’s attorney. Talk about anticipation…

The room was set with widows and the state’s attorney‘s desk to the left…the judge’s desk front center…the court recorder’s desk was to our right. We were seated behind a desk (with Lana) in the back left of the room. Ludmilla was seated on the other side of the lectern, behind a desk in the back right of the room. Unfortunately, much to our dismay, we were informed that no pictures were allowed in the courthouse (understood, of course, since this was official business).

The judge entered the room at 4pm and the stage was set. The judge read the details of the case (including our specific petition before the court). The judge and state’s attorney are both able to ask questions and they may ask questions of either petitioner at any time. In this case, the judge wanted to question us in succession and asked which of us would be speaking first. So, Steve offered to bat leadoff and stood for questioning. The questions were like rapid fire and Steve’s session lasted for a half hour. He was questioned about the language barrier, how much Russian we knew, how we had specifically prepared, what we knew about her medical condition, our financial situation, details about our home, our ability to afford our home, who would be staying home with Victoria, when we expected to send her to school, etc.

When the judge was done questioning Steve, she asked him to sit and then asked Sharon to stand. Her questions were also like rapid fire. They ranged from how she would mange staying home with her job, would she be able to home school her if needed, would our love for Victoria change if we decided to have a biological child, would we bring Victoria back if we decided that we did not like her (can you imagine that?), etc. The state’s attorney then asked Sharon what we would do if Victoria were not ready for school. Sharon’s questions lasted about 10 minutes and then the judge asked Sharon to sit.

The judge then turned to Ludmilla and asked her to present what she had observed during the previous day’s visit with Victoria in the orphanage. She stated very nice things about us and our interaction with Victoria. She was then questioned if, in her opinion, our adopting Victoria was in her best interest. She said yes and presented a number of supporting facts. When Ludmilla sat, the state’s attorney stated that they agreed with the Ludmilla’s assertion and with our petition to adopt Victoria. The time was now about 4:45pm and the judge asked everyone to exit the court room while she finalized her decision. So, we all exited to the right and waited in the hall.

Three minutes later, the judge called everyone back in and we took our original places. We were asked to stand, while she read the official decision. We were tingling with anticipation. She stated that she agreed with the petition, that she found no reason to waive the 10 day wait period, that she officially granted our petition to adopt Victoria, that we would be officially registered as her parents, and that they granted our request to officially change Victoria’s name to Victoria Ann Fantozzi. According to Steve’s (umm, that would be dad) watch, the time was exactly 4:50pm on Wednesday, March 18, 2009 (2:50am on the same day back at home). All of the waiting had come to an end. We were completely overjoyed. We gave each other a big hug and a kiss.

We left the courthouse as proud new parents and Ludmilla said that we now have “a little Princess.” We were off to the orphanage to see Victoria and ask permission for her to spend the next 10 days in our care. When we arrived at the orphanage, Victoria was outside with her group. She saw us pull up and was all smiles. We brought clothes with us, in the event that we were going to be able to have her stay with us.

We found out that we were, indeed, going to be able to have her stay with us. So, we changed her into her new clothes and she went to say good-bye to her group (this was likely the last time that she was going to see any of them). Her boots were a little big, but she said that she didn’t want to say anything about it because “they were new.” Her friends all said that she looked beautiful (kraseevee) in her new clothes.

Our hotel told us that they would move us to a suite (including a kitchen with full fridge) if Victoria came back with us, so we headed to the toy store and supermarket to pick up some things on the way home. Believe it or not, Victoria has never visited a store before. So, we spared her the additional excitement for the day. She waited in car with Irina while Sharon, Steve and Lana did some quick shopping.

After the store, we were back at the hotel…and worn out from the excitement of the day. We quickly grabbed our first family dinner before it got too late. We still had to move out of our original room and into the suite. By the time that we finished that and got some order, it was time for Victoria to get her bath (which Sharon handled masterfully). We were wiped out and ready for bed. We hoped that she would sleep well…it took a little while, but she went to sleep around 10.

In most adoption circles, they would call this “Gotcha Day”...however, we prefer to call this Fantozzi Family Day!!

The day is no longer near…it is actually here (Court Day)…

At long last, our day in court has arrived!! 2 years, 7 months and 18 days since we started the adoption process (2 years, 1 month and 10 days since we submitted our paperwork) and we are off to court this afternoon to finalize our adoption of Victoria. Tried to get a good night of sleep last night, but we were up around 4:30am and started getting ourselves organized. The excitement and anticipation of this day has made it pretty hard to stay relaxed today.

It is just short of 1pm here and we leave for court at 2pm, where we are scheduled to appear at 4pm. The proceedings can last from a half hour to multiple hours, depending on the direction of questioning from the judge and the state’s attorney. Assuming all goes well, we will be off to the orphanage after court to see if the Director will allow Victoria to spend the 10 day waiting period with us. So, we’ll see how things go and let you know when all is done…

The day draws ever nearer (Visiting Day)…

Happy St. Patrick’s Day everyone! After a long 5 months and 19 days, we were so excited that today was the day that we were set to see Victoria!! After getting a pretty good night’s sleep, we settled into the restaurant for a late breakfast at shortly after 10am. Understanding that we were to leave at noon to visit Victoria, we thought we had plenty of time. Well, in the middle of this relaxing meal, the hotel manager came over and told us that our driver was ready and outside waiting for us. “Really?” we replied. Turns out we misunderstood. Apparently, we were to see Victoria at noon (about an hour or so drive away), not to leave at noon. OK, so we scrambled to get the final things ready for our visit…remembering to run back in for our camera at the last second. We could never replace pictures from such a visit, so not having the camera on a day like this would have been a huge bummer.

On the way to the orphanage, we picked up Lana, our translator. Upon arriving at the orphanage, we looked toward the front door and saw a group of young children dressed in snow suits. “How cute”, we thought. Much to our surprise, as we exited the vehicle, we saw that this was Victoria’s group and there she was dressed in a red snow suit and a cute pink hat. She ran directly to Sharon and hugged her. The children asked Victoria who we were and she replied “my parents.”

As we spoke with the caregiver, she mentioned that Victoria was excited that we were coming today and she had drawn mommy a picture. We could not wait to see this, but first we had a chance to play outside for a while. The weather was mostly sunny and around 40, so we took the chance and walked with Victoria over to the playground. She was a little quiet at first (not that we could blame her after all this time). So, we settled in with some bubbles and some time on the swings.

After a half hour or so, we headed inside were we watched Victoria and her group (about 12 children) remove their jackets, sweaters and snow pants. Each child folded their items and placed them into the closet. What a sight this was to see! Haha.. Oh yeah, Victoria appears to be taller and, much to our delight, they have let her hair grow!

Victoria then went to her room and brought mommy the picture that she had drawn for her. What a sweet moment that made mommy and daddy very happy. It was just short of Victoria’s lunch time, so we colored with her and spoke with the caregiver. During this conversation, we were told that Victoria is aware and excited that she will be coming home (well, to the hotel first, of course) with us soon.

After she ate, Victoria brought us to a large playroom within the orphanage where we played for an hour or so. At around 2pm, Irina arrived with Ludmilla, the court appointed Social Worker (who would be speaking in court to state that she personally observed us with Victoria). Ludmilla was a very pleasant woman who watched us for a while, then asked us some questions about ourselves (our home, our jobs, our families, children in the family, our desire to adopt, etc.). During this questioning, we were set on the floor with Victoria playing with cube puzzles (which she loved).

At about 3pm, our time with Victoria for the day had ended. Victoria gave each of us a big hug and a kiss before we had to head back to the hotel. Afternoon traffic in Vlad was nearly at a standstill. So, it took us every bit of 1.5 hours to get back to the hotel. Lana used this time to speak with us about our impending day in court (oh yeah, we still have that tomorrow! Haha…). Back at the hotel, we were ready to pass out.

It is now about 11:00pm and we are ready to head to bed. Tomorrow is our court date (4pm). Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers on this monumental day! We are as ready as we can be. Important to get some rest and try to shake this jet lag, so we can be at our best.

The day draws near (Travel and Arrival)…

We left our house at 1:25pm on Saturday (running a little late for a 4:30 flight from JFK). No traffic, so things were going our way. 1st flight was about 9 hours and was uneventful. We left JFK at 4:35pm and arrived in Moscow at 9am (2am back at home).

At JFK, we had been told that our bags were checked all the way through to Vlad. Thank goodness we checked (ignoring guidance from Russian-speaking passengers to proceed directly to Passport Control) as it turned out the bags had not been checked all the way through. Wouldn’t that have been lovely to have no clothes for us or Victoria! Haha… Oh well, snafu avoided and we were on our way to the Domestic Terminal (Terminal One) in Moscow. Of course, we had no idea where Terminal One was. So, that was interesting, but we had 10 hours to figure it out.

We grabbed our bags, passed customs, and literally fought our way through the most persistent, endless sea of taxi drivers we have ever seen. Our connection was with Aeroflot, so we found their counter and were told that they had a free shuttle to Terminal One (which was a 15 km drive). Still hounded by taxi drivers, we worked our way outside (pretty cold) to wait for the shuttle. We arrived at Terminal One and went to check in and check our luggage…only to find out that we would not be able to check our luggage until 5pm. But, hey, what’s a little 6 hour wait with 6 bags!! Hahaha…

It took a while, but we finally found seats. At this point, we were falling asleep on our feet, so we took turns napping. The pre-check in side of the terminal was VERY cold (keep your jacket buttoned to the top, with hats and gloves kind of cold), but we passed the time and 5pm finally came. We headed through security and on to check our overweight bags (we seriously tried not to over pack, but this was our first time packing for 3!).

We headed out of Moscow shortly after 7 pm on Sunday for our 8.5 hour overnight flight to Vlad, which is another 7 time zones away. We touched down in Vlad at 10:40am on Monday (8:40pm on Sunday at home). Since we were coming in domestically, we hopped off the plane on the tarmac and took a bus to the terminal. Irina, our adoption coordinator here in Russia, met us with a big smile and a warm hug. She really is an awesome person, who works tirelessly to bring families together. As Steve staked out his spot to get our luggage, Irina was filling Sharon in on the events of the days to come.

On our drive from the airport to the hotel (about a half hour), we told Irina about the mounting excitement at home. When we asked her if she had seen Victoria recently, she mentioned that she saw Victoria when she gave her the presents that we sent her for her birthday/Christmas (coloring books, crayons, and a photo album with stickers and pictures of all of us on our 1st trip last September). Victoria was very excited to receive presents and the children in her group were abuzz, asking her “Vika, who sent you these presents?” The answer was one that we are not likely to ever forget; she smiled and said “My parents.” (umm, that would be us! Hahaha…).

We arrived at the hotel at about noon on Monday (10pm on Sunday at home). Total elapsed time, door-to-door, was about 32.5 hours (46.5 hours if you include the time change). We are excited, but physically drained. We grabbed a meal, where we met Lisa and Andrew, a couple from Vancouver who are adopting a little boy. On our way back to the room for a short cat nap, we met Daniella and Chris, a couple from Georgia who adopting a little girl. Our short nap actually turned out to be about 5 hours. Oh well, we missed dinner again (a recurring a story from our first trip). It is now about 11:15pm and we are settling in for an actual night of sleep.

As for the days to come, we will see Victoria on Tuesday (St. Patrick’s Day), some time in the early afternoon. During this visit, we will be accompanied by a court appointed Social Worker, who will observe us with Victoria. This will also be our chance to speak with the Orphanage Director and Doctor to see how our little girl has been doing over the last 5 and a half months. Our date in court is set for Wednesday at 4pm (2am at home). That’s about all that we have for now. It is time to get some rest, so we can be at our best when we see our daughter tomorrow!!!

The Day Draws Near (Travel Day)…

Well, the last 2 weeks have been a blur. But, our travel plans look to be in order and we finished packing at about 2am (the baggage weight restrictions are tight…but, hey, we are packing for 3!). Today, we start our roughly 33 hour journey to Vladivostok. By the time we arrive, we will have crossed 14 time zones and it will be about noon on Monday in Vlad (10pm on Sunday here at home).

The anticipation of today, and the coming days, has built over the last 2 ½ a half years. However, after 5 ½ months of waiting, we will finally see our little girl again on Tuesday. Has she gotten taller? Has she enjoyed the presents that we sent to her? Truthfully, there are so many questions, but answers to all of our questions (hopes and dreams, would probably be more accurate) are soon to come. Today we leave two, but soon we come home three!

If you could keep the three of us in your thoughts and prayers over the coming weeks, we would appreciate it. We are in the final steps of this process now, but each milestone along the way has proven that everyone's thoughts and prayers are working....and we are so incredibly thankful for that. The outpouring of support from everyone during this process has been humbling, to say the very least. For this, there is no measure of thanks that seems sufficient. But, somehow, we will do our best to find a way.

On the cusp of something wonderful....

Days, turned into months, which turned into years….then, in September 2008, it all became real when we set our eyes on sweet, little Victoria. She took our breath away and walked right into our hearts. The last 5 months have been wrought with anticipation and preparation. Today, we received official word that we have been invited to Russia to appear in court (on March 18th) where we will finalize the adoption of our little girl. So, we are just a few short days away from seeing her face, hearing her laugh and becoming a family!!